Big Ben Bolt was a comic strip drawn by John Cullen Murphy, written by Elliot Caplin and distributed by King Features Syndicate.
Illustrator Murphy entered the Army in 1940, joining the 7th Regiment. He spent several years in the Pacific, beginning in Australia and ending in Tokyo. During the war, Murphy continued to illustrate, sending work to the Chicago Tribune and painting portraits of military figures. Returning to the United States in 1946, he resumed his art career, illustrating for magazines, including Columbia, Liberty and Sport.
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In 1950, writer Elliot Caplin (brother of Li'l Abner cartoonist Al Capp) suggested that Murphy illustrate a boxing comic strip he had in mind. The strip followed the adventures of boxer and journalist Ben Bolt. Murphy was the artist of Big Ben Bolt from 1950 to 1978. Comics historian Don Markstein wrote:
Murphy occasionally used assistants, including Al Williamson (Flash Gordon), Alex Kotzky (Apartment 3-G), Neal Adams (Deadman), John Celardo (Tarzan) and Stan Drake (The Heart of Juliet Jones). In 1971, Murphy took over Prince Valiant, and Gray Morrow stepped in to draw Big Ben Bolt, eventually signing the strip starting August 1, 1977. Big Ben Bolt ended during the first half of 1978.
King Features' email service, DailyINK, began carrying Big Ben Bolt in June 2010.
Murphy received the National Cartoonists Society's Award for Story Comic Strip for 1971 for his work on Big Ben Bolt and Prince Valiant.[2]